Advertising to invade textbooks

I remember some of my most exciting moments in school were when we got free samples of new products – usually food-beverage types – I would run home proudly and show them off to friends and family… And my parents would never hear the end of it till we actually brought home the stuff in a much larger quantity than the sample. Of course, many times, the stuff lay untouched after that – like the horrendous milk-additive made with soya, the name of which I forget now…

To put this in perspective – imagine this…

Parent

Speech bubble – yes, yes, we will buy the super-sugary-soya-syrup, just stop talking about it

Thought bubble – pesky brat – what did I do to deserve this?

Marketer

Speech bubble – our super-sugary-soya-syrup is the best for growing kids – it has soya which gives strength to your bones and Vitamin x+y (whole squared) which makes your teeth brittle and cool… AND you get this free tacky plastic bottle-cap with this sample. And if you buy two packs of the ssss, you get the tacky plastic bottle free!

Thought bubble – Sucker. I lovvvvve kids…

Ah! hindsight – where was it when I was a child?

***
And where is all this heading?

To this article which says that in Canada, textbook publishers McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. have been trying to coax companies into buying advertising space in their texts. (Link through Stephen’s Web)

The article in Toronto Star describes how the publisher is pitching this idea to advertisers – “Reach a hard to get target group where they spend all their parents’ money,” says a McGraw-Hill brochure touting its planned ads. “Do you really think 18-24 year olds see those on-campus magazine ads? Do you really think they could miss an ad that is placed in a very well-respected textbook?”

The really scary thing about this is that it is not advertisers who are toying with such a thought – but the publishers who are pushing for it…

There are some sane voices against this – “Textbooks are one of the last bastions,” said Randy Stein, a partner at Grip Media Ltd., a Toronto ad agency. “There are some things that should remain pure and sacred. What’s next, university professors with logos on their blazers like NASCAR?” – but it looks like advertisers and media planners are already clapping their hands in glee at the thought of a captive – and totally malleable audience…

I tried to imagine such a situation in India – apart from marketers, will political parties also jump at this opportunity? Think : Drink Diet Pepsi and Support Saffron campaigns in your child’s civics textbook…

The last time I was so appalled was when I read about neuromarketing with children…

***

Speech and thought bubbles (or balloons) is an interesting technique used in qualitative research to understand a subject’s hidden emotions and thgouhts – what is left unsaid – due to various reasons, including politeness and political correctness, often finds expression in the thought bubble…Of course, these have been used by cartoonists for many many years before qualitative researh discovered it! Read more about them here